As the population continues to increase, so to does the number of domesticated animals populating the world. Also correspondingly, there exists an ever-increasing number of stray and orphaned animals which are tended to by animal shelters. All of these animals which live under the care of humans require daily care on the part of the caretaker. In particular, many such domesticated or house ridden animals require on their human caretakers for feeding and nourishment.
The process of feeding animals such as dogs and cats can be a very time consuming one. Young pets in particular require particular care. If raised without the presence of their parent, puppies, kittens, and the like are often fed by means of bottles. The process of preparing their food, filling the bottles, feeding the animals, and cleaning up afterward can be extremely time-consuming. The task becomes particularly untenable with litters of puppies. The task of individually feeding each pet is extremely time-consuming, and the individual feeding method also counteracts their natural instinct of the litter nursing process.
Various attempts have been made to provide devices which aid in the nursing of young animals. Examples of these attempts can be seen by reference to several U.S. patents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,981, issued in the name of Marcinko et al., describes a stuffed animal nursing device. The Marcinko device takes the appearance of a mature animal of the correct species in order to entice a young animal to feed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,817,314, issued in the name of Conte, describes a free standing support for a positional bottle feeder. The Conte device is a stabilizing support for a common bottle feeding device for domesticated animals.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,337,746, issued in the name of Clark et al., describes a small animal feeding station. The Clark device utilizes a plurality of specialized bottles to provide a wall mountable feeding station for small animals.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each of these references suffer from one (1) or more of the aforementioned disadvantages. Many such devices are not easily operated by a single user in a manner which saves time. Also, many such devices do not allow a nursing animal to lie in a natural nursing position during feeding. In addition, many such devices are not adaptable to a full litter of animals. Furthermore, many such devices are not readily portable or movable. Finally, many such devices do not provide a stable, lockable means which allows for the safe, unattended feeding of nursing animals. Accordingly, there exists a need for a multiple feeding apparatus for pets without the disadvantages as described above. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.